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Hi ya'll,

I've added 'alpha test' support for the Archos Gamepad to Andropilot. I'll post a video soon and do a test flight with my Bixler before declaring it beta. Many thanks to Robert W, Earl C, Jack O, Linus P, Anthony G, Robert L, Jeremy Z and Rana for buying this tablet so I could develop this feature. I'll fly with it for the next few weeks and give occasional updates. I think it could be a winner for some applications, but it is not perfect.

Here's my mini review...

(For full history see Robert's great proposal)

Cons:

• Feels kinda cheap
• No gps (so no 'follow-me' or 'lead-it' mode)
• No bluetooth
• Screen needs an antiglare sticker before it will be usable in the sun

Pros:

• $130-$180
• Nice mode switching keys - I've set up/down arrow to cycle between the modes you selected as your six primary modes
• Nice info tab keys - I've set left/right arrow to cycle between screens
• Since R2 is just above your right joystick, I've bound that key to RTL as a 'panic' key
• Right joystick - aileron & elevator - seems to have 'okay' resolution. I suspect just fine for FBW flying or nudging, possibly painful for manual. I'll report back after flight testing
• Left joystick - throttle & rudder
• The L1 switch is very handy - I have it set-up to toggle geofence
• The 'start' button is by the right stick - press it to return joystick control to the RC transmitter

Misc notes on gamepad performance:

• Any time the app gets relaunched (because you brought another app to the foreground) I turn the built-in joysticks off. The next time you use the sticks they will be enabled again.
• When sticks are enabled/disabled the speech subsystem will make an announcement.

Conclusions:

•  If you don't want the integrated joysticks/buttons - I think you are probably better off with something approximately like the Nexus 7. However this is quite a fine tablet. After I've done some flying actually _using_ the sticks I can give feedback on if this could totally replace the RC transmitter.
• If this is able to replace the RC radio it becomes a much more appealing offering.  TBD... ;-)

Downloads are up in the usual place.